Benefits
Recap Ted and Robin become "friends with benefits" to deal with the stress of being roommates, such as Robin leaving an empty milk carton in the refrigerator, or not taking out the garbage. Marshall catches Robin and Ted having casual sex since he used Ted's bathroom. Marshall finds it hard to use the bathroom at work, because his coworkers seem to judge him when he is walking to the restroom. Later in the episode Barney implies that he "reads a magazine" at work all the time, but he then asks for affirmation that they are talking about masturbation. Marshall blackmails Ted and Robin: he won't tell Lily and Barney about their casual sex, provided he can continue to use their restroom. However, Marshall quickly gives in and tells them about it, much to Barney's dismay and jealousy. Barney resorts to breaking old televisions from the dumpster outside MacLaren's to vent out his anger, and when he runs out of televisions, begins buying them to smash, continuously refusing to see a therapist. When Barney begins to solve all of Ted and Robin's problems (cleaning the apartment, stocking the refrigerator with milk, taking out the trash), Ted realizes that Barney loves Robin. Barney continues to deny it to Ted, but flees to Lily, and vents about his heartbreak. Unfortunately, this is in Lily's kindergarten classroom, in front of her students. Ted, meanwhile, decides to stop having casual sex with Robin, telling her "Someone would get hurt". Marshall finally decides not to be ashamed and finds that his coworkers apparent attitude toward him changes at work as well. He relays his new found strength in confidence to Barney who finds it as motivation to tell Ted that he is in love with Robin. He tells Marshall that he can use Barney's own private bathroom, which is hidden as part of the wall in his office. When Robin relays Ted's ending of casual sex to Barney, she thinks Ted was afraid of getting hurt because he's too romantic. She says "He's always like--" and then Barney finally confesses, saying "I love you" to Robin. Robin misunderstands and thinks he is just imitating Ted. They go together for a meal, while Barney doesn't attempt to correct her. The episode ends with Future Ted restating Lily's earlier argument: "Lily was right: when two exes decide to just be casual, someone always gets hurt. But this time, it was just not one of us." The camera focuses on Barney's lingering gaze on Robin as she is laughing as this is said. Barney then looks to Ted, who is clearly okay with Barney's feelings for Robin. Continuity *When discussing his theory of world peace, Barney mentions that he was discussing it with "Madeline". He is referring to Former United States Secretary of State Madeline Albright who he mentioned sitting next to at a state dinner and sleeping with in . She also showed up on in Barney's flashback of women he slept with and on the blackboard in . *When talking with Marshall and Lily about their 'deal', Robin and Ted both salute after she says that this is a 'private thing'. This joke was developed when they were dating, and first referred to in . *When Robin miss spells "weird" and Lily corrects her, Robin refers to Ted's annoying habit of correcting everyone which is shown in . Gallery Benefits - marshalls discovery.png|Marshall discovers Ted and Robin in bed benefits - barney pours his heart out.png|Barney pours his heart out to Lily's kindergarten class Benefits 1.jpg Benefits - barney pours his heart out.png fwb1.jpg fwb2.jpg Memorable Quotes Notes and Trivia Goofs and Errors Allusions and Outside References *The magazine that Marshall takes with him to the restroom to "read a magazine" is called Them Weekly, a reference to the celebrity gossip magazine . *When pointing out how messy Robin is Ted compares her to Ogre from . *Barney told Ted Mr. Clean and Mr. Belvedere clean other bros houses, when he was cleaning so Ted and Robin wouldn't fight. Music *No More Wishing - Other Notes *While cleaning Ted's apartment, Barney gives Ted 10,000 postage stamps. In January 2009, when this episode aired, the price of a stamp in the US was $0.42. Barney spent $4,200.00 on stamps for Ted. Guests *Bryan Callen - Bilson * - Herself * - Herself * - Himself * - Herself *Ambrit Millhouse - Jill *Kevin Kirkpatrick - Don * - Clerk *Ethan Dizon - Ben *Gary Anthony Williams - Reginald Reception Donna Bowman of gave the episode an A grade. http://www.avclub.com/articles/benefits,22237/ Michelle Zoromski of gave the episode 8.5 out of 10. http://tv.ign.com/articles/944/944578p1.html Cindy McLennan of gave the episode an B grade. http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/how_i_met_your_mother/benefits_1.php References External Links * * * Category:Episodes Category:Season 4